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Ramsey drama 'Casting JonBenet' to film in Boulder, metro area — with state rebate

Film to have cast of 35, all but 2 from Colorado

By Charlie Brennan

Staff Writer

Posted:
02/03/2016 07:54:37 PM MST

Updated:
02/04/2016 08:47:40 AM MST

John Ramsey looks on as his wife, Patsy, holds an advertisement promising a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer of their 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet, during an interview May 1, 1997, in Boulder. (Camera file photo)

JonBenet Ramsey (Camera file photo)

Nearly 20 years after a murder that endures as one of the most perplexing American criminal sagas in recent decades, the state of Colorado has granted a financial incentive to a team planning a feature film billed as "Casting JonBenet."

The title refers to JonBenet Ramsey, who was found strangled and bludgeoned in the basement of her family's Boulder home the afternoon of Dec. 26, 1996, about seven hours after her mother called 911 to report that the 6-year-old girl had been kidnapped with a ransom note left behind.

Colorado's Economic Development Commission on Jan. 16 approved a performance-based 20 percent film incentive rebate to three Colorado-based productions, including "Casting JonBenet," scheduled to be filmed in the Denver metro area, including Boulder, this month.

An announcement from the commission said the Ramsey movie will "present audiences with a hybrid of fiction and non-fiction filmmaking that examines the macabre legacy of this tiny starlet."

"Inciting responses, reflections and even performances from members of the Ramsey's (sic) own Colorado community, the film will examine how this heinous crime and its resulting mythologies have shaped the attitudes and behavior of successive generations of parents and children."

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According to a recent commission newsletter, "Casting JonBenet" is to be produced by Denver-based Listen Productions, led by Mitch Dickman. He was recently named one of Variety's " 10 Documakers to Watch," on the strength of his documentary "Rolling Papers," examining the effects of Colorado's legalization of marijuana, with a focus on the Denver Post's Ricardo Baca, editor of the Cannabist, the Post's section reporting on all things pot-related.

Lauren Sloan, deputy deputy film commissioner for the Colorado Office of Film, Television & Media, said under the state's incentive program, "Casting JonBenet" would be eligible, following a CPA's audit, for a maximum rebate of $50,000, or, 20 percent of the $250,000 the production intends to spend in Colorado.

The film's team plans a preliminary overall budget of $350,000, with $100,000 of that to be spent outside Colorado, according to paperwork filed with the state's Film, Television & Media office.

Conditions for earning the 20 percent rebate are that "You have to hire at least 50 percent local for your workforce, and spend a minimum of $100,000," Sloan said. "If you are a local company, as long as you hit those two marks, the CPA audit will pass."

'We hope it will be good'

Paperwork filed with the state shows that the film's workforce will be 60 people. That includes 35 cast members, 33 of whom will be Coloradans.

It is scheduled to be in production from Feb. 15 through Feb. 25, and to wrap its Colorado production work March 1.

Collecting on the 20 percent rebate does not require that a film be deemed a critical or commercial success, Sloan said.

However, she said, "Nobody just off the street with an iPhone is going to get the spend," adding, "We hope it will good.

"The filmmakers are very accredited. Mitch Dickman is one of Colorado's top film industry professionals," Sloan said. "We have a relationship with Mitch. Also, (producer) Scott Macaulay is an accredited producer as well, and is editor-in-chief, co-founder publisher of Filmmaker magazine. These are trusted producers."

Kitty Green, an Australian filmmaker, is the film's director.

Dickman, who said his firm was acting as a "production services company" to the film's producers, said he expects there will be only one day of filming in the city of Boulder.

A permit to do so has not yet been secured yet, Dickman said, "because we don't have any location picked yet, for Boulder."

That location will not be in the vicinity of the Ramseys' former home, at 755 15th St. — which is now officially 749 15th St. — he said.

Explaining the lack of planned filming in Boulder, Dickman said, "Just because of the nature of what the scenes are, it's not entirely necessary to be filming in Boulder.

"And we know it's a sensitive subject matter, so we wanted to be respectful to the city," Dickman said. He also cited "Travel and commute time and logistics" as being considerations contributing to that decision.

And, as for timing of any filming to be done in Boulder, Dickman said, "We're chasing snow, so we might be bumping up earlier (from the planned Feb. 15 start date). But around that time is correct."

He expects the public may have its first opportunity to see the finished product late in 2016 or early next year.

Indictments, never a prosecution

A grand jury heard evidence in the Ramsey case for 13 months but was disbanded in October 1999 with then-Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter announcing he lacked sufficient evidence to file charges against anyone who had been investigated, at that time.

"Casting JonBenet" would not be the first dramatic screen treatment of the Ramsey story. It is preceded by "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenet and the City of Boulder," a 2000 television miniseries starring Kris Kristofferson and Marg Helgenberger.

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